Salty Snacks

[barritz]

Roasted crickets. I've never had any, but check out Loung Ung's description of them in her book First They Killed My Father: "Wrapped in green lotus leaf, the brown, glazed crickets smell of smoked wood and honey. They taste like salty burnt nuts." I also read they're good beer food. I'm thinking about making them for myself, but frankly I'm scared. Also, I'm not sure the best place to get them. I found a place that sells them online, but only in quantities of a thousand. They seem like a good source of protein, and not at all fattening. I'm surprised more people aren't using them as a diet food. Oh wait, now I remember, Westerners are afraid to eat insects. We should break this unfair taboo. I see a future in the west where insect eating outpaces chicken consumption. Across American, l imagine all-you-can-eat mealworm buffets, and resturants where the specials are roaches in a light, creamy fruit fly sauce and home made--backyard made, in fact--earthworm ravioli.

[gini]

Roasted crickets.  I've never had any, but check out Loung Ung's description of them in her book First They Killed My Father: "Wrapped in green lotus leaf, the brown, glazed crickets smell of smoked wood and honey. They taste like salty burnt nuts."  I also read they're good beer food.  I'm thinking about making them for myself, but frankly I'm scared.  Also, I'm not sure the best place to get them.  I found a place that sells them online, but only in quantities of a thousand.  They seem like a good source of protein, and not at all fattening.  I'm surprised more people aren't using them as a diet food.  Oh wait, now I remember, Westerners are afraid to eat insects.  We should break this unfair taboo.  I see a future in the west where insect eating outpaces chicken consumption.  Across American, l imagine all-you-can-eat mealworm buffets, and resturants where the specials are roaches in a light, creamy fruit fly sauce and home made--backyard made, in fact--earthworm ravioli.

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Fried crickets are not particularly tasty - mostly just salty. There's a place around the corner from where I live that does cricket tacos - crunchy, to say the least.

[LindaSEANYC]

I just started buying Kettle Bakes Fully Loaded Pretzel Chips and man they hit the spot!!

[ludja]

Baked/fried Ikan Bilis--little dried anchovies

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I had a great salty snack using these at Betelnut, a pan Asian fusion restaurant in SF a few years ago.

It was described as a wok stir fry of small dried anchovies, chilies, garlic and peanuts.

I've always wanted to create this at home but haven't gotton around to it yet.

Does anyone know from what country this comes from (if it's not a fusion invention) and if so, what it is called?

A great salty snack to bring along for a hike is this version of Gorp:

salted cashew nuts, raisins and plain M'nM's.

[pauladsous]

Baked/fried Ikan Bilis--little dried anchovies

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←

I had a great salty snack using these at Betelnut, a pan Asian fusion restaurant in SF a few years ago.

It was described as a wok stir fry of small dried anchovies, chilies, garlic and peanuts.

I've always wanted to create this at home but haven't gotton around to it yet.

Does anyone know from what country this comes from (if it's not a fusion invention) and if so, what it is called?

A great salty snack to bring along for a hike is this version of Gorp:

salted cashew nuts, raisins and plain M'nM's.

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[pauladsous]

Baked/fried Ikan Bilis--little dried anchovies

...

←

I had a great salty snack using these at Betelnut, a pan Asian fusion restaurant in SF a few years ago.

It was described as a wok stir fry of small dried anchovies, chilies, garlic and peanuts.

I've always wanted to create this at home but haven't gotton around to it yet.

Does anyone know from what country this comes from (if it's not a fusion invention) and if so, what it is called?

A great salty snack to bring along for a hike is this version of Gorp:

salted cashew nuts, raisins and plain M'nM's.

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Bonjour (I'm all emotional as this is my first contribution and I hope my English is decent enough for you to get at least a vague idea of what I mean to say...huh...write )

To answer your question , I believe those little pieces of spicy salty heaven are Indonesian andpossibly Malaysian as well.

I discovered them while visiting my father when he was working in Indonesia, which by the way is Snackers' paradise.

They have tons of little fried stuff to munch on and you can purchase them in bulk in ALL supermarkets. some are sweet-salty, others sweet & sour, loads of them very spicy, and all totally addictive ( I have never sampled any I disliked, and boy was it heavy-duty smplaing, more like pigging out )

The names I remember were lumpia (mini spring roll), sumpia, emping manis or asam(like a fied thick corn flake either sweet or spicy), kachang goreng (peanuts), ikan terie (small fishes too), peteh goreng (some sort of fried bean)

Basically, "gorenbg means fried like nasi gorend or bami goreng (fried rice or noodles), and asin, manis, asam, mean stuff like sweet, salty, spicy,...

Unfortunately,I did develop quite a passion for those nibbles which there's no way I'll ever find in Switzerland where I live. I just find some when I go to Paris......which regretfully doesn't happen often enough.

Hope this was helpful and not too boring to read or inaccurate

A bientôt

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[kiliki]

My new favorite salty snack: Garbonzo beans roasted in oil and salted.

[Domestic Goddess]

Whenever we go to a big grocery store here in Kroea like LotteMart of E-Mart, I always pick up a couple of trays of these:

Takoyaki balls

Takotchi skewers (grilled chicken)

[CMA]

Recently bought some "Sundried Tomato and Basil" Wheat Thins, and they are surprisingly good with strong sundried tomato and basil flavors. True to the topic posting title they are, in fact, quite salty as well, but I'd give them a B+ overall.

[Sararwelch]

I could live on hummus and pita chips. I usually buy sea salt or sesame multigrain pita chips. The cinnamon sugar pita chips are great for a sweet snack.

[enurmi]

I can eat a whole can of Pringles in one sitting. But I probably shouldn't admit that.

You may not be the only one for whom that's true...

But I've tried to cut out most processed foods from my diet, so for now, Terra Chips (yeah, they're a concession, but a delicious one at that!), or pieces of parmigiano reggiano peeled off the block (with a veggie peeler or a paring knife). Ooh, or homemade sourdough, heated up, with homemade peanut butter and then sprinkled with sea salt. (or just cut out the peanut butter entirely- yum) Can you tell what I'm eating now?

Edited January 8, 2007 by enurmi (log)

[Gastro888]

Garlic roasted peanuts from the Chinese supermarket! I am eating those right now and it's hitting the 4pm snack spot. I just hope they're not too calorific. Considering they're alot smaller than the typical Southern style roasted nuts, I hope I'm alright....

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

senbei

saladitos (salted dried plums)

chex mix and similar mixes

dill pickles

umeboshi vinegar sprinkled on slices of fresh cucumbers

[maxmillan]

I make my own croutons. I buy day old whole grain baguettes, rye, or whatever is high fiber. Cut them up, olive oil, mixed Italian herbs or whatever is on hand. Bake at 200 F for a couple of hours. Turn off oven and leave overnight...if you can resist eating them.

I've used spicy cajun mix and plan to use onion mix next. The combination is limited only by your creativity (Japanese spice? soya sauce? curry?)

I've weaned myself off chips with these and creating different flavors is fun.

[Toliver]

I tried Archer Farms (a Target brand) Spinach & Artichoke Tortilla Chips and I give them a thumbs up.

I haven't been too keen on most of their chip products but these really do seem to have a light artichoke flavor to them. I tried finding them on the web so I could post an image link but came up empty.

The tortilla chips are a little thicker than normal (Doritos-style) tortilla chips. They have a light dusting of a green powder. Maybe this is supposed to represent the spinach, I don't know. I can't really taste spinach in the chips but the artichoke flavor comes through. Plus, it's a light enough flavor that the chip won't overpower any dip or salsa accompianments.

Find them if you can...

[jsmith]

I just finished off a bag of "Tandoori Sizzler!" Doritos. I don't even like Doritios... I liked them when I was 18 and for some reason this obligates me to buy every new flavour I see. I see a new gross flavour "ooh, dill flavour cheese doritos, sounds disgusting", buy it expecting it to taste like crap, and I'm not disappointed when it does. Then I repeat it a year later when I find a new flavour.

Worst flavour so far?

BBQ Doritos. I thought normal BBQ chips had too much chemical flavour goning on but the Doritos take on this classic chip elevates it to a new level.

[potsticker]

i don't know if this counts as salty, but...

white bread

mayo

ripe tomatoes

dash of sea salt and fresh ground pepper

assemble sandwich-style. it's making me hungry just thinking about it.

[zpzjessica]

the basic salty snacks work best for me -

cheezits

pickles

cape cod potato chips (and french onion dip - my weakness!)

wheat thins...not too salty but just enough to satisfy the sale cravings i always have

chex mix

[phatj]

Forgive me if this was mentioned, but anyone in or near the Pennsylvania Dutch region should seek out Grandma Utz's Handcooked Potato Chips, or as I like to call them, Potato Crack.

Thick-cut potato slices cooked in lard, with plenty of salt. No dip needed.

[Rebecca263]

How about those tiny dried crabs wih the salty sweet soy sauce coating? I have no idea which Asian culinary genius makes them, or how to get them, but I sometimes dream of those little crunchy creatures of cuteness and savory goodness.

[browniebaker]

Currently I am addicted to Kettle-brand Buffalo Bleu potato chips. Thick, ripple-cut chips are kettle-cooked and coated in hot buffalo-wing spices offset by the cool tang of bleu cheese. This is like a drug to me! There's a padlock on the bag right now -- no joke.

[insomniac]

twiglets.......look like twigs, taste like MARMITE

[Restorer]

Trader Joe's Marcona Almonds.

They're a bit expensive ($7.29 for 12 oz), but oh so good. Lightly coated in oil, with some coarse salt.

[Toliver]

Limited Edition Xxtra Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos

On first bite I thought they were nothing to write on eGullet about. But what happens is that whatever provides the heat on the Xxtra Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos builds up overtime. By the time you reach the end of the bag, there's a good amount of spicy heat in your mouth. I wouldn't say they're twice as hot as the regular Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos but they definitely have more of a kick than the regular Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos.

If you like the heat, these are the spicy salty snack for you.

[DCP]

Seasoned, toasted nori strips - preferably with extra chili. Salty, spicy, and umami all at once.

Sahale Snacks' spiced dried fruit and nut mixtures.